Cong leader D K Shivakumar produced in Delhi court by ED

Karnataka Congress leader D K Shivakumar, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case, was produced before a Delhi court on Wednesday.

Shivakumar, arrested on Tuesday night, was produced before special judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar.

He was brought to the court after he underwent medical check up at Ram Manohar Lohia hospital here.

Senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Dayan Krishnan will represent Shivakumar, 57, in the court.

The former cabinet minister and sitting MLA from Kanakapura seat had appeared before the ED for questioning on Tuesday for the fourth time at its headquarters here.

After a long session of grilling, Shivakumar was placed under arrest as per provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED had in September last year registered the money laundering case against Shivakumar, Haumanthaiah, an employee at Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi, and others.

Shivakumar had to appear before the ED after Karnataka High Court last week dismissed his petition challenging the summons issued to him by the agency.

The ED had filed a PMLA case against him and others based on a charge sheet (prosecution complaint) filed by the Income Tax Department against them last year before a special court in Bengaluru on charges of alleged tax evasion and hawala transactions worth crores.

The Income Tax department has accused Shivakumar and his alleged associate S K Sharma of transporting huge amount of unaccounted cash on a regular basis through 'hawala' channels with the help of three other accused.